Catch You Have Every Right, an all-female show at the Ateneo Art Gallery, until April 20

(SPOT.ph) The Ateneo de Manila University Art Gallery brought out the big guns to mark Women’s Month. You Have Every Right is an exhibit that features an all-women ensemble made up of award-winning artists Maria Cruz, Lizza May David, Tracey Moffatt, Claudia Del Fierro, Annika Eriksson, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, and Kiri Dalena.

The Hair Ball series by Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen and other previews. Click for more!

Rasmussen was part of the Danish Pavillion at the 2011 Venice Biennale, Ericksson was in the 2005 Venice Biennale, and Del Fierro was included in the 9th Havana Biennale in Cuba and the 4th Mercosul Biennial in Brazil. Moffatt has been honored with a retrospective of her film and videos in MOMA New York, while Cruz has received residencies with PS1 New York, an Asialink Residency and the Karl Hoffer Gesselschaft International Studio in Berlin.

Dalena has been the recipient of both the Ateneo Art Awards and the CCP 13 Artists awards and her video work was one of the select pieces to be included in the prestigious Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, Germany. David has been shown widely in Europe and the Philippines including the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Sidewalkcinema, and and Lothringer13, Munich.

With the impressive line-up, You Have Every right boasts throught-provoking pieces that use video, painting, photography, media, found objects, and practically everything else that can be used to make visual statements. The works are results of the artists’ month-long art residencies in the Philippines hosted by the Ateneo Art Gallery, Green Papaya Art Projects, 98B COLLABoratory, and Light and Space Contemporary. Aside from materials and situations drawn from urban life, the exhibit also attempts to start a dialogue on subjects such as diversity and gender roles.

Rasmussen, who created "A Mother Earth Ritual" performance installation, said that she researched on different materials Manila has to offer. "Manila is a city with textures. You can find material, touch them and then decide to [use] them," she said. For her part, Chilean artist Del Fierro said she got to know the city and was "fascinated by the perfect balance of chaos and the familiar environment of a tropical former Spanish colony capital."

Exhibit curator Lian Ladia said that their processed-oriented approach to art-making helps in the introspection of both the artists and the public. She explained: "Embedded in the works of the artists is a study of discrimination, objectification, oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping, roles of power. Behind that backdrop, I wanted to give the artists an opportunity to respond to the present, and pursue their current concerns in Manila, a country leading in gender equality."

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Ladia also added, "The audience, artists and organizers where invited to engage, and discover even if for the first time, without restrictions, to push an idea, curiosity, question or intuition, exploring one's own every right - and one's own power and ability, to just do."

The You Have Every Right Exhibit runs until April 20 at the Ateneo Art Gallery: Level 2, Rizal Library Special Collections Building, Ateneo de Manila University. Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Sundays and Holidays. For inquiries, you can call (02) 4266488. Check http://www.ateneoartgallery.org/ for more information.